All charges include GST unless otherwise stated. Some fees are deposits (minimum application fees) and others are fixed fees. An additional fixed fee is charged for scanning hard copy applications.

Council fees are payable whether or not your resource consent is approved. The applicant is the person responsible for all costs associated with the application.

Payment of fees and commencement of processing

Resource consent applications are not complete until the required fee/deposit has been paid. Processing does not commence until payment has been received; the only exception is where an applicant has a credit arrangement with the Council, then the total cost will be invoiced on completion of processing.

For applications lodged electronically, an invoice will be issued shortly after lodgement and can be paid via internet banking, EFTPOS or cheque. Our internet banking details are provided below. Payments are credited to our account on the next business day.

The Particulars, Code and Reference details are all specified at the bottom of the invoice. To avoid processing delays, please make sure you include all of this information in your payment details.

Processing costs

Most resource consent applications require an initial deposit to be paid by you at the time the application is submitted. Additional costs are usually incurred during processing and are charged to you after a decision is made on the application. The Council also requires the payment of the cost of monitoring the consent to ensure any conditions are complied with.

The cost of processing a resource consent application varies depending on the complexity of the issues involved. The more complex the application, the higher the costs are likely to be. If you need to provide further information this increases the cost.

Notified applications cost a lot more to process than non-notified applications due to the cost of notifying the application, analysing the submissions, holding the hearing, and other aspects of the notified application process. The planning issues involved are usually more complex too.

Some of the more straightforward application types have a fixed fee, which covers the total cost of processing.

If you engage professional consultants to prepare or assist you with your application this will add to your costs.

Discounting of resource consent fees

The Resource Management (Discount on Processing Fees) Regulations require the Council to discount processing fees where the statutory timeframe is exceeded. The discount applies to resource consent applications (land use and subdivision) and applications to change or cancel the conditions of an existing consent, and is one per cent per additional day up to a maximum of 50 per cent.

Development contributions

If your subdivision or development project increases demand on network infrastructure, community infrastructure, or reserves, a development contribution may be levied. The Council assesses development contributions before it grants a building consent, resource consent or authorisation for a service connection.